Chapter 21
Amelie
He walks towards me and sits on the edge of the bed, resting his hand on my sheet-covered thigh. “It’s extremely important for you to know that I don’t typically do this.”
I smirk, knowing that he’s working hard to make me comfortable, but he doesn’t have to do it. “That’s not necessary, Carter. I’m not naive enough to believe you don’t have flings and one-night stands. You’re extremely attractive, and you’re in a band, and the security at the club calls you ‘Mr. Ortiz’. I can only imagine the attention that garners for you.”
He shakes his head, tiny droplets of water falling from his hair to his shoulders and the sheets. “You misunderstand. Yes. I’ve had the single-night encounters and week-long flings. But I’ve never brought anyone here before. Nobody that I haven’t known for a while, anyway.”
“Oh,” I say. Just because I know it doesn’t mean I’m overjoyed hearing that my intuition was true. And, once I stop to think about it, it makes sense that he’d be protective of his space. It’s a beautiful place in an affluent neighborhood. He apparently does very well for himself.
“It’s swanky.”
He smiles and looks relieved that I dropped the current line of conversation. Glancing around, he nods. “Yeah. I guess it is.” He nudges me until I slide over in the bed and pulls the sheets back to climb underneath with me.
“I grew up in the heart of downtown Atlanta. When I was a kid, the roof of our building looked out over Fulton County Stadium before they tore it down. I loved watching the games, but all I cared about when I got ready to buy a place was having space to move around and not sharing a wall with anybody else.”
“I can’t imagine growing up in the thick of a big city like that.”
“You grew up in a small town?”
“Well, sorta. My parents live in a little suburban neighborhood of San Diego. We moved there when I was in first grade. I don’t really remember any other house or school or neighborhood.”
“That sounds like the childhood I wished I’d had growing up. I don’t hate the way I grew up at all, I just wished sometimes it was more … I don’t know, peaceful?”
I nod. “Yeah. I can see that.”
He stares at me for a few moments and pushes a wet hank of hair behind my ear. “You’re beautiful, Amelie. Just, absolutely gorgeous.”
The blush starts at my hairline and warms my skin down to my belly. I feel every single wave of it. Every goosebump. “Thank you.”
“We started off pretty hot and heavy, but it seems like you’ve simmered a little. Are you still … do you still want to …”
I smile at him. Ever the gentleman, or at least I assume he is, since I literally just met him. “I do. I still very much want everything you’re willing to give me.”
He smiles, but it’s a little darker than before. “I don’t know about that. There’s a lot I’d love to do with you, give to you, but I don’t want to overwhelm you.”
“You already do. You overwhelm me in the best way. I don’t need protecting, Carter. I don’t need you to coddle me or be gentle with me.” I sit up a little straighter in the bed and look him dead in the eye. “Teach me. Show me. I’m tired of always being the one observing and never participating.”
Carter looks at me, hesitance gleaming in his eyes and written on his furrowed brow. “I don’t know.”
“Please.” I lay my hand on his thigh, squeezing gently. “Please. Forget all the reasons why you shouldn’t. Forget all the things that are keeping you from treating me like any other woman. Please. Just say yes.”
He hooks an arm around my waist and pulls me underneath him before I have a clue what had happened. “First of all, you’re not just any other woman. Second of all, you’re fucking amazing. Do you know that? And third of all, yes. Fuck it. I’ll give you anything you want. All you have to do is ask.”